On Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m., we gathered up our last minute items, hugged and kissed everyone, and headed up Hwy 80 toward Oregon. It's been a cold, long winter (116 inches of rain so far in Dutch Flat this year - a record) and it is fitting that the temperature was only 45 degrees when we took off. We expect all types of weather on our trip and have planned for this!
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| Fond farewell to the DF Gang |
Here is a picture of the basic route we intend to follow on the trip:
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| Inland route heading north, coastal route returning |
We intend to stay inland, heading north on secondary roads through California, Washington and Oregon, will be following the Cassiar Hwy (instead of the Alaska Hwy), and will then hop onto the Alaska Hwy and the other main Alaska roads to explore the Yukon and Alaska with visits to Dawson City, Skagway, Haines, Fairbanks, Denali, Homer, Seward, Whittier, Valdez, and Wrangall St. Elias National Park, We'll then head south into BC to enjoy the beautiful lakes along the Cassiar Hwy and will take a day ferry from Prince Rupert to Vancouver Island to hike there for two weeks. We'll finish the trip with a tour of the Olympic peninsula, the Oregon coast, and several final days camping in Lassen National Park. The trip will take four months with quite a bit of driving, and we're lucky that both of us enjoy this type of adventure and extensive traveling. I guess we're fortunate that we get along so well - living and camping in 134 square feet of space!
Our first day, we drove north from Hwy 89 to Sierraville, Hwy 395 and 139 north to Susanville and Klamath Falls, then Hwy 97 to Crescent Oregon. We love the eastern Sierras and this was gorgeous country with minimal traffic. What a perfect way to start our vacation!
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| One of our favorite little towns - Sierraville |
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| Eastern Sierra views toward Nevada as we were nearing Susanville |
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| Quick lunch - Eagle Lake |
As we passed through Klamath Falls (of North by Northwest fame), the temperature dropped to 35 degrees and it began to sleet...glad we had a cozy place to camp with a good heater! We camped that night at Big Pines RV park south of Bend, a small, but very nice campground.
Sunday, we headed north on Hwy 97 toward Lincoln Rock campground in Washington.
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Lunch break near Goldendale at Brooks Memorial Park -
we camped here in 1994 with the kids. |
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Settling in at Lincoln Rock Campground on the Columbia River in WA.
Another family favorite campground
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| Thunderheads creep in this evening |
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| A park-like setting |
It warmed up today to the mid-60's and we were able to enjoy a late afternoon walk through these beautiful grounds. Tomorrow - we plan to camp in BC at Lake Okanagan.
It's kind of you to scout all those campgrounds for us! Looks like you're having fun so far.
ReplyDeleteIm strapped in, got the TV on mute, the pooch is sleeping at the hearth, the patient is out in dream land and now I can travel uninterrupted with you. So it's North to Alaska..... now be sure to show us all those bakeries and goodies which i know ye old wagon master will be hunting down.
ReplyDeleteFrom The Russian River
You guys know us way too well! Actually, we are heading to Smithers tomorrow and rumor has it that they have a great bakery which we will definitely check out! Our quality control inspector is pretty picky, though...Give the pup and the patient a hug for us (including yourself). We'll do our best to keep you entertained!
DeleteLove, N and E